On Monday, Minister of the Interior Taina Bofferding joined the CGDIS directorate to present a report about the last couple of weeks.
The numbers speak for themselves: more than 500 firefighters were required to extinguish a higher than usual number of fires across the country.
The end of July alone saw a steep increase in deployments, with firefighters being alerted to no less than 242 fires throughout the Grand Duchy. Hedges, fields and forests had caught fire 67 times.
Last week, a rapidly spreading fire in Hamm had claimed a firetruck. Firefighters from Niederkorn and Schuttrange had to lend a helping hand. CGDIS's general director Paul Schroeder explained that a new firetruck would already strengthen Luxembourg's firefighting fleet towards the end of the year. He added that they had already ordered a new firetruck for the CGDIS training centre. This vehicle, however, will now find use in Hesperange and the training centre will order a new firetruck.
The recent rise of fires also brought up the question whether the Grand Duchy should rely on helicopters and aerial firefighting.
Luxembourg Air Rescue said that they possessed a so-called Bambi bucket to deliver aerial firefighting but added that they would not be able to pay for specialized pilot training with membership fees. Bofferding explained that they would first develop a comprehensive prevention approach and then agree on the financial aspect.
In this context, CGDIS direcor Paul Schroeder conceded that helicopters would certainly be helpful but also noted that the majority of Luxembourg's fires were wildfires that generally required manual work. "We have wildfires where the tree itself is not burning. If you pour water on the affected region from above, a part of it certainly reaches the ground. However, it does not precisely hit the fire itself," Schroeder said.
In the future, wildland fire management will be given more attention in the training of budding firefighters.
